The Household.

Hawke's Bay Times, Issue 1634, 4 December 1874, Page 449

The Household.

Latest Paris Fashions. We take the following from the Paris correspondence of the Young Ladies' Journal, just to hand : One of the latest and most successful innovations in the fashion of full-dress toilettes consists in this : the front and sides of the skirt, gored so that when standing iu does not form one single crease, are covered with a multitude of narrow flounces overlapping each other from the waist to the bottom of the dress. All the fulness of the skirt forms behind a large fold, some eight or ten inches wide, three or four times pleated, and quite plain. It falls gracefully into a fan-shaped train, hiding on both sides the extremities of the front trimming. This fashion has the merit of being reasonable and practical, for, with such a dress, one can' sit down without crumpling and spoiling entirely the aspect of the toilette, as was too often the case when elaborate trimmings occupied the back of the skirt. It adds much to the elegance of a woman when she seems totally free from any thought of her dress, and can sit down naturally all at once, without any of that pushing, twisting, tucking-up of her skirt which we have all been obliged to practise for some years since puffs and tuniques relcvees have been in fashion.

I saw last winter many ball-dresses so covered behind with wreaths of flowers that it was literally impossible to sit down in them. Standing or kneeling were the only alternatives. How comfortable ! This was a case for the saying: " Ilfaut gonffrir pour Stre belle /" But it seems as if the sufferers had had enough of this absurdity, and the present good sense they show must be the teaching of experience. I have also noticed a new manner or' wearing veils, which is wonderfully graceful and becoming. The veil must be of illusion, with or without chenille spots. White looks prettier than black, as it whitens the complexion. The veil must be rather more than a yard and a half long and sixteen inches broad. It is placed over the face exactly in the centre, is crossed behind under a goldheaded pin or a buckle made specially for the purpose, which gathers up all the fulness of it; then both ends are brought back in front and losely tied under the chin. There is no face which is not considerably improved by this cloud-like framing. Here is a lovely youthful toilette of white barege :•—The skirt trimmed with a pleated flounce eight inches deep, headed with three narrow pleatings. An ample tunic veils almost the whole dress. It is hemmed, and in the hem, two or three Inches wide, is passed a dark green ribbon. Three bows of the same dark green ribbon placed one above the other, (gather up this tunic on the left side. Behind, the tunic is gathered at the waist by eight rows of gathers, occupying a space of about twelve inches in length. Under these gathers another, a broader one, with a green ribbon passed through. High bodice over a white silk lining, very slightly decollete in a square. The bodice is bouillonne all over ; the bouillons are fan-shaped from the waist upwards. Round the neck a ruff of illusion. Green waistband, with mother-of-pearl buckle in front. Bouillonne sleeves with green ribbon bows.

Eii passant, I must remark that this bouillonne bodice and sleeves were worn by a sylph-like girl of delicate proportions. Bounder forms would look better without the bouillons. The toilette was completed by a pretty rice-straw hat, lined with green, and trimmed with large, white daisies and green ribbons. The soft, creamy white of the barege is extremely becoming to the complexion, much more so than the snowy white of muslin,

The striped material imported from England under the name of Oxford toile is quite afureur of the season. Some of the patterns are of charming soft coloring ; the absence of starch makes it very pleasant to wear. I h ave just seen, at one of our best dressmaker's, a very pretty seaside costume made of gray Oxford, striped with the palest pink. It consists of a skirt, Polonaise, and pelerine, the whole trimmed with gathered frillihgs of the Same material. The pelerine is thrown back over the shoulders in a very coquettish and and originate manner. The general aspect is as elegant as possible, although the material is cheapness itself. This rosy gray is one of the favorite colors this year, or, rather, a favorite shade of the favorite color, gray. Of green and faded blue so much in fashion last year, not one dress in twenty is to be seen. The few scattered ones which could be noticed give us an impression of last year's finery. Ecru, although worn still, seems'to be under a cloud also ; but gris de lin linen and batiste are in high favor, especially when trimmed with broderie Aug'

laise. The pretty percales foulards of Alsace are charming for young ladies and little girls. The patterns are very different from those of last year . dark colors and jwis are quite discarded ; stripes of delicate light shades are now the fashion. They are of all sizes, from the almost imperceptible mille rates to stripes an inch and a half wide ; but half an inch is the best size.

High coiffures, or. at least, chignons, placed quite on the top of the head, with the hair brushed straight up behind, are now quite out of fashion in the grand monde. The eatorjan coiffure is so uniformly adopted that no other is now to be seen upon aristocratic heads. Is it because it is an imitation of the Louis XV. style of coiffure for men ? J ust sprinkle it with powder, and our fashionable ladies will look exactly like so many marquis of the eighteenth century disguised in women's clothes 1 Rather a funny fancy this ! However, when not exaggerated, it is pretty and graceful. I prefer plaits and curls disposed iu this manner, to waved hair. They look less masculine. Plaits are a neat and convenient way of wearing one's hair for travel ling. False hair is also much less worn than it was a year ago.